My expectations were low when I asked the National Security Agency to cooperate with my story on the impact of Edward Snowdenâs leaks on the tech industry. During the 1990s, I had been working on a book, Crypto, which dove deep into cryptography policy, and it took me years â years! â to get an interview with an employee crucial to my narrative.
I couldnât quote him, but he provided invaluable background on the Clipper Chip, an ill-fated NSA encryption runaround that purported to strike a balance between protecting personal privacy and maintaining national security.